LA Rams pre-draft meeting tracker: aggressively pursuing 2021 talent

Defensive Players

Outside linebacker Joe Tryon from the University of Washington met with the Rams on or about March 30 per Steven Haglund from the LAFB Network. Tryon is the hybrid edge rusher, a player who can stand in a two-point stance and play the outside linebacker in an odd-man front, or put his hand in the dirt and fill the defensive end role in an even-man front.

He stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 262-pounds and had a phenomenal 2019 season as a sophomore before opting out of the 2020 season. Now, draft analysts are scrambling to project him to the 2021 NFL Draft held later this month. Before opting out of the 2020 football season, Tryon was projected as high as the first round.

Tryon arrived as a 6-foot-5 230-pound recruit in 2017 to the University of Washington and has bulked up to the NFL-prototypical 262-pound size.  He would be an ideal understudy/teammate for veteran OLB Leonard Floyd. However, he is projected to go early in round two, meaning that he would be off the board before the LA Rams even step up to the podium. His is a two-fer though. He could fill the role vacated by either Morgan Fox or Samson Ebukam very successfully.
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DL Chauncey Golston from the University of Iowa met with the Rams on or about March 18 per Justin Melo from the Draft Network. He is a small-school defensive end pass rusher and makes sense as the Rams answer to fill the roster spot vacated by outbound free agent Morgan Fox. At 6-foot-5 and 268-pounds, he was a late-bloomer. He arrived at college undersized and redshirted his freshman year. But he eventually bulked up to fill his role nicely. He even showcased potential pass defense by getting an interception in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

While many draft profiles slotted him into a 4-3 defensive end role, I’m not certain that is where the Rams see his potential. He is a Day-Three projection, but the Rams have a knack for unleashing a player with Golston’s talent set very effectively.

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